An Adoption Battle In Black And White

FORT WAYNE, IND. — The modest home of foster parents Sandy and Donald Kintz echoes with the noise of one less child these days.

In an upstairs room are boxes filled with clothes and toys left behind when the Allen County Welfare Department removed the toddler suddenly last August and placed her in the home of a couple who wanted to adopt her.

``She went to her first over-weekend visit (with the couple), and she just never came back, and they never told us she wasn`t coming back,`` Sandy Kintz said.

The woman who now cares for the child along with her husband explained that a counselor for the welfare department had told them that they should keep the child.

The Kintzes and two other white couples, all of whom sought or are seeking to adopt African-American children, have filed complaints against the county welfare department and the Indiana Department of Public Welfare over the policy.

The complaints are believed to be the first filed from Indiana with the Office for Civil Rights of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, said Michael Kruley, assistant to the regional manager in Chicago.

The Kintzes had taken care of the girl, called J. to protect her identity, since she was 3 months old. They said they loved her and wanted to adopt her. She was 2 1/2 when she left.

Even though a social worker who studied the Kintzes recommended that they be allowed to adopt J., caseworkers predicted that wouldn`t happen for a simple reason: The Kintzes are white; the little girl is African-American.

The welfare department, which is a state agency, has a policy of placing children with adoptive parents who are of the same race whenever possible. The other couples who have filed complaints are Dawn and James Bryson of Fort Wayne, who filed two complaints on behalf of themselves and the child; and Jacquelin and Lance Snyder of Butler, Ind.

The welfare department has declined to comment on specifics of the cases pending the outcome of the investigations and other litigation.

Normally, a foster parent is given two weeks` notice before a child is transferred to another home, said welfare department director Joan Uebelhoer, but she said it depends on circumstances.

In the Kintzes` case, no one ever came to pick up the child`s belongings, Sandy Kintz said. Among the toys is a dark-skinned Mickey Mouse that is a bank.

``They told us they bought her everything new,`` the woman said. Sandy Kintz, who has a Tlingit Indian tribe heritage, still has the tribal dress she made for the child.

The Kintzes last saw J. on Sept. 6, when the department arranged a two-hour visit for them to say goodbye. The Kintzes videotaped the meeting, in a no-frills room at a local children`s rights agency.

In it, the child asks to go home with them. ``I`ll be good,`` she said.

The Kintzes haven`t seen her since.

Kruley, who confirmed that three cases have been filed since Oct. 1 involving transracial adoption issues, refused to confirm the names of the couples because the complaints are under investigation. The federal agency could cut off funds to the Welfare Department if violations are found and not resolved.

All three couples say Indiana`s transracial adoption policy ignores the bonds between foster children and foster parents.

In addition, complaints allege that the policy denies equal constitutional protection to African-American children, because they often are kept in foster care longer than necessary until a family of their race is found. And the complaints say the policy discriminates against prospective white adoptive parents, who are treated differently because the child they want to adopt is African-American.

The three couples allege that the welfare department didn`t aggressively recruit potential African-American adoptive parents until they showed an interest in adopting their charges, and that caseworkers seldom visited them. The intent of the department`s transracial adoption policy is supported by the adoption units of Lutheran Social Services and Catholic Charities, representatives said.

In the late 1970s, the National Association of Black Social Workers took a strong position against transracial adoption, and that stand continues today, said Cheryl Coleman, who heads the Family Preservation Committee. Studies have shown that African-American children develop better in African-American families, where they can absorb their own culture and be taught to deal with problems such as racism, Coleman said.

Carol Coccia, founder and president of the National Coalition to End Racism in America`s Child Care System, began fighting Michigan`s transracial policies in 1982 as a foster parent.

She isn`t against searching for same-race homes, but is against delays in placing children. Coccia backed up her beliefs with a 1985 lawsuit against the Department of Social Services.

Now, all Michigan foster parents who have had a child at least a year are given the option to adopt.

Uebelhoer said her agency, whose district covers 11 counties, actively recruits African-American families for adoption and foster care, and does look at other adoption factors besides race, despite the state`s policy. The department would like to have more African-American foster parents so children can be placed in same-race homes in that system, she said.